Namaqualand
Arid Region of the Northern Cape characterised predominantly by granite hills.
Nodes
Aloe dichotoma
Aloe dichotoma
Lachenalia
Crinum variabile
Oxalis
Romulea tortuosa
Oxalis obtusa
Leucadendron brunioides
Pelargonium
Pages
Taxonomy term
Felicia
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Origin uncertain. La. felix = happy, cheerful, though in the neuter plural form felicia = happy things; possibly a reference to the bright flowers. Other sources vaguely refer to a mysterious German official in Regensburg called Felix who died in 1846 but speculatively and more probably for the Italian Fortunato Bartolomeo de Felice (1723–1789), an Italian scholar established in Yverdon who led the European team that wrote the Yverdon Encyclopedia, published between 1770 and 1780 in 58 quarto volumes. This superseded the Parisian Encyclopedie of Diderot and d’Alembert published between 1751 and 1772.
Ferraria flava
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From the Latin flavus = 'yellow' or 'golden'
Ficus
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La. = fig probably derived from an older tongue, Hebrew, fag; or Persian, fica. An old name for the edible fig, Ficus carica.
Fockea
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For Gustav Waldemar (Woldemar) Focke (1810–1877), German physician, plant physiologist and amateur microscopist. He studied at the University of Heidelberg, obtaining a PhD in 1833 and did post-doctoral studies under Stephan Ladislaus Finite (1804–1829), professor and director of the botanical garden at the University of Vienna, and under professor Christian Gottfried Erenberg (1795–1876) at the University of Berlin; the founder of the science of micropaleontology and microbiology, and also spent some time at the University of Halle. Despite all his training he did not publish many papers concerning his research, although he delivered a lot of lectures. He was highly involved in scientific societies and a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina among others. His major works were De respiratione vegetabilium (1833) and Physiologische Studien (1847).
Gasteria
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Gk. gaster = abdomen, belly. The plant is named for its stomach-shaped flowers with swollen stems or the swollen base of the perianth tube (WPU Jackson) or the spikelets (Davesgarden.com).
Gasteria pillansii
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Named after Capetonian botanist Neville Stuart Pillans (1884-1964). He joined the staff at Bolus herbarium in 1918 and worked there till his retirement. He had a penchance for succulents and did Monographs of the Restionaceae, Bruniaceae, Phylica, Agathosma and Metalasia. He also did some work on the genus Hermannia, but gave up two years before his death.
Gazania
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Gk. gaze, gaza = riches, royal treasure; chloe = grass; or possibly after Theodorus Gaza (many spellings of this name) (1398–1478), a Greek scholar who moved to Italy in 1430. He became professor in Greek at the University of Ferrara (1447) and a Greek-Latin translator for Pope Nicholas V (1450–1455). He worked for King Alfonso V of Aragon (Alphonso the Magnanimous) (1456–1458) and subsequently for Cardinal Bessarion. He translated many works including Aristotle’s Problemata, De Partibus Animalium, and De Generatione Animalium and Theophrastus’ Historia Plantarum, works by noted Greek authors, and a Greek grammar (four books). He is regarded as one of the greatest classical scholars and humanists of the Renaissance.
Gazania sp
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Gethyllis
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Possibly Gk. getheo = I rejoice; ullus = diminutive, but most sources say from gethyon = a bulb, onion or species of leek. The bulbs of this genus are somewhat similar to those of the leek.
Gethyllis britteniana
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Gladiolus
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La. gladiolus = a small sword; referring to the sword-like shape of the leaves.
Gorteria
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For David de Gorter (1717–1783), Dutch botanist, physician, plant collector, professor of medicine at the University of Harderwijk, where he also studied, and possibly also for his father, Johannes de Gorter (1689–1762), professor of medicine at Harderwijk from 1725–1754. De Gorter Jr graduated in 1734. In 1735 Linnaeus came to Harderwijk where he obtained his PhD (under De Gorter Sr). A friendship sprang up between the younger De Gorter and Linnaeus. Together they made collecting trips around Harderwijk, with De Gorter subsequently authoring one of the first floras to use Linnaeus’s form of binomial nomenclature, Flora Belgica (1767). After retiring from the university, De Gorter became chief physician at the court of Elizabeth (Elizaveta Petrovna), Empress of Russia, succeeded by his son.
Gorteria diffusa
(Beetle Daisy){"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
From the Latin diffusus = ‘widespread’, 'spreading' or 'diffuse'
Grielum
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Gk. grelos = old; referring to the hoary leaves (William Henry Harvey, Flora Capensis).
Grielum humifusum
(Pietsnot){"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
From the Latin humus = ‘ground’ and fusus = ‘poured over’; referring to a spreading habitat